Effect of Constant Light and Darkness on the Deep Pineal of the Rat

Abstract

Anatomically viewed, the pineal organ of the rat is composed of the superficial pineal, the stalk, and the deep pineal s. lamina intercalaris (Kappers, 1960; Volrath, 1979). The deep pineal represents about 3% of the pineal complex. It lies between the posterior and the habenular commissures, being in the close contact with the third ventricle. Boeckmann (1980) found the identity of pinealocytes of the pineal complex. The innervation of the pineal complex is mainly autonomic (symphatetic, arising from the ganglion cervicale superior and reaching the pineal via nervi conarii), but the commissural and peptidergic fibres, whose origin is still to be elucidated in detail, are also present. Vasopressin and Oxitocin fibres are evident in the deep pineal of the rat (Buijs and Pevet, 1980).

Ilnerova, H. and Vanacek, J., 1980, Pineal rhythm in N-acetyltransferase activity in rats under different artificial photoperiods in natural daylight in the course of a year, Neuroendocrinology, 31:316.View Article